MMS 3013 : Web Programming

Internet Fundamental
 Web ≠ Internet
• Internet: a physical network connecting millions of computers using
the same protocols for sharing/transmitting information (TCP/IP)
– in reality, the Internet is a network of smaller networks

• World Wide Web: a collection of interlinked multimedia documents

that are stored on the Internet and accessed using a common
protocol (HTTP)
Key distinction: Internet is hardware; Web is software

Many other Internet-based applications exist

e.g., email, telnet, ftp, usenet, Instant Messenger, Napster, …
 History of the Internet
• the idea of a long-distance computer network traces back to early 60's
– Licklider at M.I.T.
– Baran at Rand
– National Physics Laboratory in U.K.
in particular, the Department of Defense was interested in the development
of distributed, decentralized networks

survivability (i.e., network still functions despite a local attack)

fault-tolerance (i.e., network still functions despite local failure)

contrast with phone system, electrical system

in 1969, Advanced Research Project Agency funded the ARPANET

connected computers at UCLA, UCSB, SRI, and Utah

allowed researchers to share data, communicate
56Kb/sec communications lines (vs. 110 b/sec over phone lines)
 History of the Web
• the idea of hypertext (cross-linked and inter-linked documents) traces back to
Vannevar Bush in the 1940's
– online hypertext systems began to be developed in 1960's
• e.g., Andy van Dam's FRESS, Doug Englebert's NLS
– in 1987, Apple introduced HyperCard

in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee at the European Particle Physics Laboratory

(CERN) designed a hypertext system for linking documents over the
Internet

designed a (Non-WYSIWYG) language for specifying document content
• which evolved into HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

designed a protocol for downloading documents and interpreting the content
• which evolved into HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

implemented the first browser -- text-based, no embedded media

the Web was born!

 History of the Web (cont.)
• the Web was an obscure, European research tool until 1993

• in 1993, Marc Andreessen (at the National Center for Supercomputing

Applications) developed Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser
– the intuitive, clickable interface made hypertext accessible to the
masses
– made the integration of multimedia (images, video, sound, …) much
easier

– Andreessen left NCSA to found Netscape in 1994

• cheap/free browser popularized the Web (75% market share in
1996)
• in 1995, Microsoft came out with Internet Explorer
• Netscape bought by AOL in 1999 for $10 billion in stock

• today, the Web is the most visible aspect of the Internet

Who is making the Web standards?

• The rule-making body of the Web is the

W3C.
• W3C stands for the World Wide Web
Consortium.
• W3C puts together specifications for Web
standards.
• The most essential Web standards are
HTML, CSS and XML.
• The latest HTML standard is XHTML 1.0.
 The Client/Server Model

• Client/Server can describe a relationship

between two computer programs – the
"client" and the "server".
• Client
– requests some type of service (such as a file or
database access) from the server.
• Server
– fulfills the request and transmits the results to
the client over a network

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 The Client/Server Model

• The Internet Client/Server Model

– Client -- Web Browser
– Server -- Web Server

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 Web Client
• Connected to the Internet when needed
• Usually runs web browser (client)
software such as Internet Explorer or
Netscape
• Uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• Requests web pages from server
• Receives web pages and files from server

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 Web Server
• Continually connected to the Internet
• Runs web server software (such as Apache or
Internet Information Server)
• Uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• Receives request for the web page
• Responds to request and transmits status code,
web page, and associated files

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 Internet Protocols
• Protocols
– Rules that describe the methods used for
clients and servers to communicate with each
other over a network.

• There is no single protocol that makes the

Internet and Web work.

• A number of protocols with specific functions are

needed.
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 FTP
File Transfer Protocol
• A set of rules that allow files to be exchanged
between computers on the Internet.

• Web developers commonly use FTP to transfer

web page files from their computers to web
servers.

• FTP is also used to download programs and

files from other servers to individual computers.

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 E-mail Protocols
• Sending E-mail
– SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

• Receiving E-mail
– POP (POP3) Post Office Protocol
– IMAP Internet Mail Access Protocol

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 HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
• A set of rules for exchanging files such as text,
graphic images, sound, video, and other
multimedia files on the Web.
HTTP Request

HTTP Response

• Web browsers send HTTP requests for web pages and

their associated files.

• Web servers send HTTP responses back to the web

browsers.
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 TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

• TCP/IP has been adopted as the

official communication protocol of the
Internet.

• TCP and IP have different functions

that work together to ensure reliable
communication over the Internet.

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 TCP
Transmission Control Protocol

• Purpose is to ensure the integrity of communication

• Breaks files and messages into individual units called
packets

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 IP
Internet Protocol
• A set of rules that controls how data is sent
between computers on the Internet.

• IP routes a packet to the correct destination

address.

• The packet gets successively forwarded to the

next closest router (a hardware device
designed to move network traffic) until it
reaches its destination.
http://visualroute.visualware.com/
http://www.tracert.com/cgi-bin/trace.pl

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 IP Address
• Each device connected to the Internet has a
unique numeric IP address.

• These addresses consist of a set of four groups

of numbers, called octets.
74.125.95.104 will get you Google!
• An IP address may correspond to a domain
name.

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 Domain Name
• Locates an organization or other
entity on the Internet
• Domain Name System
– Divides the Internet into logical
groups and understandable names
– Associates unique computer IP
Addresses with the text-based
domain names you type into a web
browser
– Browser: http://google.com
– IP Address: 74.125.95.104
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 URL
Uniform Resource Locator

• URL
Represents the
address of a
resource on the
Internet.

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 TLD
Top-Level Domain Name
• A top-level domain (TLD) identifies the
right-most part of the domain name.

• Current generic TLDs:

.com, .org, .net, .mil, .gov, .edu, .int,
.aero, .asia, .cat, .jobs, .name, .biz,
.museum, .info, .coop, .pro, .travel

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 County Code
TLDs
• Two character codes originally intended to
indicate the geographical location (country)
of the web site.

• In practice, it is fairly easy to obtain a

domain name with a country code TLD that
is not local to the registrant.

• Examples:
– .my,.tv, .ws, .au, .jp, .uk
– See http://www.upsi.edu.my

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 Future Internet & Web Trends
• Continued importance of E-Commerce
• Wireless Web access
• Need for skilled technical workers
• IPV6
• Web Services
• Blogs
• RSS
• Wikis
• Twitter
• Web 2.0
• Constant Change!
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 Checkpoint 1.1
• The acronym TCP/IP stands for…….

• The …………………allows computer users to locate and view

multimedia-based documents on almost any subject over the Internet.

• Describe the components of the client/server model as applied to the

Internet.

• Identify two protocols used on the Internet to convey information that

use the Internet.

• Explain the similarities and differences between a URL and a domain

name.

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